Magic Bites

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Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews invites you to experience the first novel in the “intriguing world” (Locus) of Kate Daniels with this special edition of Magic Bites...

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta’s magic circles. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she’s way out of her league—but she wouldn’t want it any other way…

This special edition includes in-depth information about the world of Kate Daniels, with descriptions of its characters and factions. Explore Kate’s Atlanta like never before with answers to FAQ and a quiz to find your place there. And don’t miss the prequel story “A Questionable Client,” as well as scenes of events in Magic Bites from Curran’s point of view.

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Magic Bites

Average rating

4.6 / 5

Wonderful first book in a series

December 19th, 2014

Did I mention that I love the "alsobought" section on the Amazon site? I discovered a lot of books I fell absolutely in love with through that. Magic Bites was one of them. I had just posted a review on one of October Daye's books by Seanan McGuire, and I was browsing through that section for something similar to read when I saw Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews.
Well, I can say that I'm glad I bought it because I loved this book. It has several of the components that I look for in a paranormal romance series, and all of them are done just right. So you can say that Magic Bites was a feast for sore eyes.
First of all, the worldbuilding. I loved this world where magic and technology come in alternating waves. I also like that the author set her story a long time after those waves first started happening, so it's not a post-apocalyptic story at all. Society has adapted to the new world and takes the changes in stride: they have both electricity and magic lights which switch on automatically depending on the wave; every garage or stable in Atlanta has both cars and horses.
The different magical beings and factions are also well-integrated into the society. I mean, when a magical wave can strike at any time and last for days, nobody would be very surprised to see witches, necromancers or shifters in the streets anymore.
So even in the first book of a series, we are introduced into a complex world with several different layers, a past and even a distinctive mythology. And the introduction is done progressively, without the dreaded infodumps that usually make me skip ahead or just close the book and never pick it up again.
So just for that, I would have already been happy with Magic Bites. But the good surprises didn't end there. Kate Daniels is a strong female protagonist how they all should be - strong, smart, not afraid to make tough decisions and used to relying only on herself. Yes, she can come across and stand-offish and over-confident sometimes, but I think it has more to do with her upbringing and backstory, which is hinted upon, but not entirely explained. Which is also good, because it makes me want to pick up the next book in the series to learn a bit more about her.
Kate is a loner. She had been brought up to think that she cannot trust anyone but herself and that getting attached to other people is a weakness. So she tries to act accordingly. But she was also brought up with an inane sense of justice, so she can't help but intervene when she sees something as being wrong. Which has a tendency to land her in a world of trouble.
Since it's a paranormal romance, I can't write a review without mentioning the romantic interest as well. Those of you who had been following my blog for some time know that the romance has to be very well written and feel "natural" for me to like the book. So that's another point in this book's favor - the romantic component is there, there are hints, but I have a feeling that it will develop gradually through the course of several books.
I also liked the fact that the romance does not take the driver sit in the story. Both Kate and Curran feel attracted to each other, yes, but that attraction is in the background. I have read way too many novels where the romantic interest seems to exist only when the protagonist is around and has no life / goals / desires outside of that. I'm glad that Curran isn't like that. You can feel that he has his own life, his responsibilities and passions that have nothing to do with Kate or the case they end up investigating together. In other words, he is a well-rounded character on his own.
So yes, I loved this book and I love this series. And I will strongly recommend it to anyone who is looking for an engaging story, wonderfully fleshed-out world and complex characters.
P.S. And I think that Kate's first encounter with Curran is hilarious. I mean, "Here, kitty, kitty?"

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Elena Linville

1 review

Hooked

August 9th, 2014

Perfect for the smartassed twisted individual! Ready for the next one!

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Sam

1 review

October 14th, 2013

An intricate world where vampires are a lot different than the Twilight variety. This was a fun read and can't wait to read bood 2 in the series.

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Prism

1 review

September 8th, 2013

Loved this book. Kate is real or believable making you feel like this is more than a story. As for cur an my only complaint is he is blond.
It is easy to become invested in these characters making yoju want to find out what happens next in their lives

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ackjtal

1 review

I liked it

May 7th, 2013

Ilona Andres reminds me of early laurel K Hamilton. I'll need to read more of her work before I am ready to add her to my growing list of favorite authors.